Routine tree deaths doubled
Small background rates of everyday tree death have doubled in old-growth, western forests since 1955, possibly because of climate change, researchers report (SN: 2/14/09, p. 8). In 76 plots with no wildfires or massive pest outbreaks in the western United States and Canada, annual tree mortality crept up to 1 or 2 percent by 2007, says Phillip J.